Hunting Partners
by JayBee-Bug
Summary: What would of it been like if Spike had remained (un)living at Xander's apartment? Possible implied slash.


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Title: Hunting Partners

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Author: JayBee

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Rating: PG-13

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Setting/Spoilers: Takes place S7, after the episode "Him". Brief mention of "The Pack".

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Summary: What would of it been like if Spike had remained [un]living at Xander's apartment? Possible implied slash. You have been warned. 

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Feedback: jaybee_bug@yahoo.com

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Disclaimers: Spike, Xander, Buffy, and Godzilla aren't mine. I made up the Valtrex demon.

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Quiet. He let his eyes slip shut, as he reached out with his senses, straining to pick up every detail in his environment. The rustle of leaves as the trees swayed in the breeze. The hiss of cars on the distant highway. The chirps and clicks of insects. An occasional dog barking or a car honking into the night, adding just the right amount of dissonance to the steady background sounds. He tried to imagine. Imagine what it was like to be a hunter. How he might feel if he were--

"Still don't see why _you_ get the bloody axe. "

Xander Harris jumped about five feet, and turned to brandish an ugly glare over his shoulder. 

"Are you _trying_ to screw this up? "

He wouldn't at all be surprised if he was. Spike just mumbled, 

"Well you can hardly carry the bloody thing. If I had it than at least I could give it a proper swing. "

Xander gave him a disgusted look before turning back to peering out the crypt's window, as if to completely ignore him. But he self-consciously shifted the hefty battle-axe's position on his shoulder. 

"Just try to keep your mouth shut for more than thirty seconds and I'll be happy. "

The cold, empty crypt fell quiet after that, and it seemed (amazingly) that Spike was attempting to comply with the request. He quietly propped the large crossbow against the wall and peered out the window alongside him. 

Quiet. Xander allowed the sense of quietness to permeate the room again, focusing on his surroundings once more, the area immediately around the crypt. He couldn't remember how long he had been doing this-- at least ever since the Hyena incident. Yes, that was a safe place to say it began. He was used to the practice now. Every time he went on patrol or was out in a dangerous situation fighting demons, he always tried to get himself into that certain headspace. The one he imagined Buffy probably put herself in on a regular basis, the one that allowed her to be so adept at hunting and fighting. Xander might of been just a regular old guy, with no special powers or titles like everyone else around him seemed to have, but he found he could do pretty darn well with 'regular old guy' skills. At least they've always worked pretty well for him so far. Pretty well, meaning, he's stayed alive all these years. So he must be doing _something_ right. 

However, while he was in the middle of readjusting his mind, getting into the hunting groove, Spike distracted him again by chuckling. He released an audible sigh of frustration, shoulders drooping. And glanced next to him, asking sharply, 

"What now? "

The bleach-blonde smirked at him, terribly amused by something. 

"Sorry. I'sjust, I can't tell what you're tryin' to do, sprout a pair of fangs or something? "

Xander gave him another dirty look. 

"You wish, fangboy. I'm _trying_ to do a stakeout like Buffy asked us to, although you seem content with making this a chitchat party. "

Spike held up his hands in a surrender gesture, 

"I'm done, won't say nothing more. "

But Xander wasn't done, 

"And don't think I'd be bringing you along by choice. I'm perfectly fine doing this alone, have lots of times. Just because Buffy thinks the rule is 'two is safer than one' doesn't mean it's always true. "

Spike didn't seem too troubled by this, just raised his brows slightly. 

"Oh, sure. Because you're _much_ safer without a vampire around to help. One human with an overweight battle-axe. "

Xander glared, and double-checked his view out the window. Cocky bastard. Why does that seem like a standard feature with immortality? Pair of fangs, lack of morality, bloodlust, and oh, yeah, an ego the size of Manhattan. 

"As far as I'm concerned, you're a burden, not an asset, pal. And you call yourself a creature of the night? You can't even keep your mouth shut beyond thirty seconds on a stakeout. With my luck the demon's heard you whining about the axe and decided to take off. "

His chew-out finally seemed to elicit a response from the vampire, who spoke a bit too loud to be considered 'stealthy stakeout conversation'. 

"_Well, _the boy fancies himself a hunter, does he? Do you really think you know the first thing about the game just because you've tagged along with the Slayer's groupies this far? "

Xander snapped back without hesitation, 

"Maybe not, but I obviously know more than you ever have. "

All right, he was saying that mostly to get on Spike's nerves now. Which seemed to be working, as the vampire shifted and narrowed his eyes. He was about to say something else but Xander hushed him viciously and gestured outside. 

"What is it, " he asked, voice dropping off into a deep murmur. At least he was being mature enough to let the argument drop. 

"I saw something. Over behind those headstones. "

The both of them fell quiet, scanning the cemetery for proof of another demonic presence. After scrutinizing for several minutes, Spike made an observation in the same, deep, hushed tone of voice. 

"We're bein' stalked. "

Xander felt an icy stab in his stomach when Spike confirmed his suspicions. It wasn't so much the fact that they were being stalked as it was the way Spike had stated it. 

"It's taking it's time, " he muttered back. Spike nodded mutely. 

"It knows we got nowhere to run. "

Xander flinched as he caught another brief glimpse of motion dancing among the trees and headstones, hardly more than a shadow. It was definitely getting closer. He looked to the demon at his side. 

"But I don't think it knows we have something to fight with, " he commented, giving a little twist to the axe leaning against his shoulder. The vampire almost smiled at that, his hand automatically retrieving the crossbow. 

"It doesn't. "

They both looked out the window again. The ghostly glimpses of a stealthy demon whisped nearer, and Xander could have sworn he heard a crumpling-noise in the mostly quiet night. 

"We in the Restfeild cemetery, Harris? "

Xander frowned at the seemingly random question and gave him a quizzical look. 

"Why? "

Spike gave a quick glance over the crypt they were in. 

"I think I got an idea. "

The crypt was eerily silent as the dark shadow slipped inside, a demon that looked pretty much like a cross between a bull and a wolf. Orange eyes darted left and right. It's confidant posture slipped a little as it realized the room appeared deserted. A few cautious hooves clicked on the concrete-- the beast raised it's snout and tested the air. Narrowed it's orange eyes and suddenly jerked to look to it's left. It flared it's tail, which was really a whole series of snake-like tails, and flattened it's ears, hissing. Challenging it's prey, apparently, to come out and fight. 

Two bolts whisped through the air and hammered into the concrete next to the demon's ear as Spike easily stepped out of his vantage point. The _Valtrex_ demon responded fast, ducking and whirling about to face the prey it obviously misjudged the location of. Spike grinned and waved at the beast, rather than fire another volley-- it crouched, preparing to spring at him, when an axe came crashing down. Spike couldn't make out much of what was going on after that, as two figures shuffled about awkwardly in the darkness awhile. He casually reloaded his crossbow. It appeared Xander had gotten a rather deep gash in the demon's side with his first swing, but now he was having trouble giving it any second blows, having a hard enough time fending it off. Spike frowned as he aligned his crossbow and attempted to take aim. They were fumbling around all over the place. 

"Xan, get outta the way! "

Xander glanced up and saw what Spike was trying to do. He was trapped a moment between the idea of making himself entirely vulnerable to the demon who was currently attempting to extract his entrails, and trusting Spike's abilities to hit his target. It wasn't a very thrilling prospect, but he threw himself to the floor anyway, clutching the axe over his head for a minimal amount of protection. The black Valtrex leapt on him immediately and gleefully dug into Xander's back with its sharp hooves and dipped its head down to-- a howl of pain, as Spike's arrows struck bull's eye-- or at least, bull's side. One was embedded deep into a shoulder blade and the other whizzed past it's ear. It was enough to irritate the Valtrex sufficiently to get off Xander and advance upon Spike, who was fumbling with the crossbow to reload. 

"Jus' a sec, will you? "

He cursed suddenly when the arrows he was fiddling with clattered to the floor. Leaning down to grab them back up, he changed his mind about halfway down, realizing there wasn't enough time. By the time he got back up he only had enough time to shield himself with the crossbow as the demon came leaping at him and rammed them both into the wall. As his head connected with the concrete he saw stars and everything blacked out moment. When he could see again he found himself face-to-face with the snarling, drooling snout of the demon, who was snapping a set of white teeth just inches from his nose. The sturdy crossbow was the only thing between them, which they were currently wrestling with, Spike using it to try and push the monster further away from him while it tried to get at him. It wasn't working very well and Spike was cussing in frustration, angry that the stupid thing had him pinned to the wall so well. 

"Gerroff you stupid--"

The demon yowled and turned it's head to look over it's shoulder, and Spike got a glimpse of Xander, who was stupidly pulling one of the Valtrex's tails. Oh, she wasn't going to like _that_. The demon aimed a couple kicks with a back leg at Xander's head, who wisely decided to let go of the tail and dodge. He brought his axe back up in a ready position as if he was going to use it again, although the Valtrex still had Spike pinned to the wall, as if undeceive on who she wanted to kill first. Too late--Spike made the decision for her. Kicking at Xander had taken _just_ enough weight off him to slam the crossbow into her neck and break free. The demon was thrown back but managed to keep her footing, and now found herself faced with both of her prey, a vampire with an empty crossbow and a human with an overweight axe. 

All the strategy and planning in the world was thrown out the window at this point, which had a sort of honest quality to it. This was the part of the battle were all else was tossed aside, there were no more games, and just a flat-out charge at each other. Which is exactly what they did. The Valtrex pointed its horns and charged, Spike and Xander raised their weapons and charged. 

Horns met with Spike's crossbow and the three of them started trading frenzied, uncoordinated blows, Spike simply using the cross-bow like a club and Xander swinging the oversized axe clumsily, sometimes smacking his target with the flat of the blade. It didn't take the black demon long to find out she didn't like the odds of this game anymore, and being battered by these two was downright irritating. She backed off and tried to make a getaway for the crypt door. Confidence fed by the demon's retreat and simply by adrenaline, Xander followed in hot pursuit, while Spike held back. The human glanced over his shoulder, wondering why Spike wasn't following, but soon found out. Two bolts whipped through the air with deadly precision as the demon reached the doorframe. She jerked her head to see them, but by then it was surely too late to dodge. Xander stood still, certain he was watching the demon's end unfold. 

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FHOOOOM! 

Xander fell to the ground painfully, crying out more from surprise than from pain, shielding his eyes. And then he knew she was gone. Coughing, he rubbed his eyes, wiping soot from them, and blinked up confusedly at Spike. The vampire was standing stock-still like a statue, crossbow lowered at his side, gazing at the open crypt door. 

"Ok, what the Hell just happened? "

Spike nodded towards the door. 

"Valtrex're firebreathers. Can only do it when they're really freaked out, though. "

Xander coughed again and sat up. 

"Ok . . . so why am I not a pile of charcoal? "

The vampire walked over to were the rest of his bolts had fallen and started picking them up. 

"Wasn't aiming for you. She burned the arrers up. You were just in the way. "

"Ah. Lucky me. "

Reloading his (slightly worse for wear) weapon, Spike gestured at Xander. 

"Better get up. We don't got much time, they can move pretty quick. "

Xander frowned and started to pick up his axe. 

"We're going after it? Don't you think we should tell Buffy? "

Spike sniffed. 

"Why should we? "

"Uh, because we're _supposed_ to? This was just a stakeout job. Heck, the demon wasn't even supposed to be at this cemetery, and you heard Buffy. She wanted us to report back if we saw anything so she could take care of it. "

Spike gave a short chuckle and played with the drawstring on his bow. 

"Want to run home so our big mean Slayer can handle the baddie, then? "

Xander got up, using the axe to help push himself to his feet, and looked at the vampire sternly. 

"That was what everyone agreed to. Buffy wants to handle this one herself, this demon's not just your garden-variety tooth and fang. He's supposed to be Big Bad material. "

Spike didn't seem interested in replying, and was just twanging the string on his bow. Xander continued, 

"Besides, I think we did a good enough job. Gave him a good run for his money, now we can let Buffy finish it off. "

Spike suddenly looked up at Xander, bringing the bow back to his side. 

"Ok, first of all, it's a _she_, not a he. And second of all, no, we _can't_ just let Buffy finish it off. All we did was make her twice as dangerous. "

Xander twisted the axe that was resting against the floor. 

"How's that? "

Spike gazed out the door again, and paused long enough to make Xander glance at the door, before finally replying, 

"Because we've injured her. "

They fell quiet as Xander contemplated this. He looked warily from Spike to the door, and finally decided, 

"All right, fine. We'll follow him. Her. You just better not try to pin it on me if Buffy gets pissed off. "

Spike had already started moving towards the exit when Xander had said 'All right', and now glanced back at him. 

"Right, sure, fine. And one more thing, here. "

He frowned as Spike offered the crossbow handle to him. 

"I don't want to trade weapons, Spike. "

Spike just raised his brows and gave him an expectant look as Xander continued to stare at him. They held the staring contest for several seconds longer. 

"You break it and you're a dead man. "

Spike smirked as they quickly traded weapons and headed out the crypt door. 

"M' a demon, not a man, Harris. "

Xander just made an annoyed noise. 

"Whatever. "

Xander's apartment was dark, the only source of light eerily flickering off the walls, changing colors occasionally, casting dim, dancing shadows. It was, of course, the television-- with Xander and Spike both sprawled comfortably on the couch in front of it. The volume was down pretty low, since Xander was making a conscious effort to keep the peace between him and his fellow apartment-renters next door, but the loud commentary they were making sort of negated that attempt all together. Well. It's the thought that counts. 

"Nuh-uh. You're completely exaggerating it. First of all, that one--no, _that_--yeah--that was like, twenty feet away still. "

Spike widened the gap between two pens he was holding up. 

"Like that then? "

"No! More than that. You were totally lagging behind, I was like that for a good two minutes. "

"I was standing _right there, _Harris, I just didn't do anything right away. "

"Well why not? "

Xander winced inwardly when he noticed he was conversing too loud again. Probably could count on another friendly message on his answering machine in the morning. 

"Cos' I saw you were handlin' it. I only jumped in when it looked like I could help. "

He squinted at the vampire next to him, trying to read his facial expression for signs of honesty. No, no, he wasn't falling for that one. Xander knew when somebody was just greasing him up, and he'll be damned if he'd let Spike try that stunt-- ah, well. He could take the compliment anyway, honest or not. 

"All right, fine, continue then, " he said, waving at him to carry on. Spike continued in a theatrical-style narrative, moving the pens like action figures as he spoke. 

"So I'm over here and you guys're down here, all roughn' tumble, you're whackin' it 'cross the head with the headstones n' what have you. I think it stepped on the crossbow at that point--"

"He chewed it in half, I swear. Just one snap of it's jaws. "

Spike started pounding on the white pen on the coffee table with the blue pen, 

"Yeah, snapped th' bloody crossbow in two, and Buffy's not gonna like that part when she hears it--"

Xander grinned, able to clearly imagine Buffy's reaction when he held up her favorite crossbow, snapped cleanly in two pieces. 

"So you start chuckin' pieces of it at 'er. And she's all, dodgy and dancin' around--" 

Most of his narrative melded into sound effects and whacking the pens around at this point. Xander was keeping an equal watch on the subtitles of the movie and Spike's "action figure" game, which both seemed pretty funny at the time. It was actually kinda disturbing if he thought about it too much, because it seemed like the sort of thing that he'd do himself. Ok, scratch that. He _had_ done that himself on occasion. Xander glanced back at the TV, not sure if he should feel annoyed at that fact or amused. Or just . . . disturbed. 

Spike was charging his black pen in on the scene now, 

"And 'ere is were I came in, she didn't even know what hit 'er. Wham! Split right down the middle--"

"In her old wound. Don't forget that part. You did that were I axed her the first time. "

"Right. Got're in the old wound, split're right open. Deed's pretty much done by that point, just got to beat the last bit of life out'of her. "

Xander made a face. 

"Eeck. You don't have to make it sound so . . . "

He raised a brow, looking up at him, switching out of his narrative-voice a moment. 

"Sound so what? Violent? "

"Callous. "

Spike looked mildly offended. 

"Hey! It wasn't callous. I take a lot of pride and satisfaction from my slaughters. "

Xander sighed, eyes on the TV, and responded with heavy deadpan, 

"Of course you do. Guess I was being assumptious. "

Spike just turned back to his monologue. 

"Anyway, we jus' got to finish 'er off now. With a little bit of this--"

Xander got up rather abruptly from the couch and headed over to the kitchen. Spike was too enthralled in beating his pens senseless to even glance up. He puttered around the dark room a while, giving the TV an occasional glance to see were the movie was at. About five minutes later he returned, bags of microwave popcorn in tow. He tossed one half-hazardly in Spike's direction and dug into his, turning the volume up on the movie. 

The pens left long forgotten on the coffee table, Spike gazed down at the bag of popcorn for a moment. Xander was just munching loudly, apparently absorbed in the movie again. The vampire slowly picked the bag up, as if handling a possibly dangerous object. 

"What's this for? "

Xander gave him a glance and gestured vaguely, speaking through a mouthful. 

"S' popcorn. Thought you mightoff want som. "

He swallowed and turned back to the TV, suppressing the urge to babble nervously because he accidentally did something polite for the vampire. Spike was still very still and quiet, which only worried him. He stole another glance--gah! He was _watching_ him. And he had a tiny smile on his face, whatever _that_ was for. 

"Thanks, " Spike said simply, sounding honest. Xander released a breath he didn't think he was holding. Ugh, the vampire was as confusing as being stuck watching an old black-and-white Godzilla movie. 

They didn't talk for a while after that, content on remaining parked in front of the tube and letting the movie rot their brains. Spike kept making real loud crinkling sounds with the popcorn bag, though. _Crinkle. Crinkle crinkle. Crunch crunch. _He started to curse under his breath. Xander slowly looked over at him, confirming his suspicions. He was still struggling with ripping the bag open. 

Oh, but he had to smile at that. It was too funny. Spike felt Xander's gaze and suddenly glanced up, looking sheepish. Wait-- sheepish? Spike was looking sheepish? This was too good. Xander piped up. 

"Uh, I think I have some scissors, if you wanna--"

Spike vamped-out while Xander was in mid-sentence, grinning at him with his new pair of fangs, before easily tearing the bag open with his teeth like a dog. 

"Uh, yeah, or there's that. That works too. "

He happily began munching his hard-earned prize, not even bothering to morph back into his human visage. Xander rolled his eyes a little and turned his attention back to Godzilla. 

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Vampires are weird, he decided to himself. 

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And especially this one. 

Several hours later (there was a sequel playing to the Godzilla movie they were currently watching, which they of course had to see as well) Xander found himself trying to drag his half-comatose body towards his bedroom. He started to regret packing in that many hours of late-night TV goodness. I mean, sure, he was too wired at first after the demon hunting to go to bed, and it was a weekend, but still, jeez. There comes a point were one has had too much Godzilla. Or was that for something else? Xander blinked and shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Didn't matter, there was his bed, he had made it. Lay down on it; aaaah . . . blissful mattress. He was quiet a while and then jerked, realizing he had been falling asleep face-down on top his bed, and that it was probably not going to be the most comfortable position by morning. With much more effort than it seemed necessary, Xander clambered under the covers, kicking off his pants and tossing his shirt somewhere along the way. Aah, there, much better. He settled back into the mattress, letting the fog of sleep easily overtake his mind. 

It was an hour or two later maybe when Xander drifted back awake, finding his mind strangely clear and also having a very sharp need to snack. He just laid there awhile, watching the headlights of cars cast along his walls for a while, mesmerized by their motion, drifting comfortably in a deep, musing state. Delaying his midnight snack, and just enjoying the sense of emptiness, of quietness. He probably spent a good half-hour drifting like that before finally climbing out of bed to go hunt down something to eat from the kitchen. As he padded barefoot across the hall, he tried to recall the list of items in the meat drawer; he was pretty sure he had some ham left, could probably make a sandwich or something. Xander's feet were so completely on autopilot that he had to almost run into Spike before realizing he was even there. Of course, they both jumped in surprise, Spike yelping in a manner not too dissimilar from Xander's yelp. The disheveled boy blinked at the refrigerator light, which was blaringly bright in contrast with the rest of the room. 

"Spike? "

"Uh. . . jus' was gettin' some food. "

Ok, yeah, _now_ Xander realized what was going on. It took his brain a moment to catch up with him. Spike had been in the fridge, drinking out of a familiar coffee mug he had been using earlier. It made sense vampires would get late-night blood-cravings. 

"Oh. Uh, right, yeah. "

Apparently it took more than a few moments for his higher _speech_ functions to catch up, though. Both vampire and human fidgeted uncomfortably. Spike nodded at him. 

"You? "

"Huh? " Xander had no idea what he was referring to, and self-consciously glanced down at his own nighttime attire (which, to be honest, was just a pair of boxers), and back up at Spike, who was now looking at him curiously. 

"You were creeping into your kitchen because . . . "

"Oh. Yeah. Was gonna grab something--" he just nodded at the fridge, 

"Right. 'Corse, " Spike agreed. They both sort of nodded. That having been successfully established, they now seemed to of run out of things to say. Of course, being men usually left to their own late-night prowling, they were unaccustomed to sudden interruptions. Sure, Xander knew Spike was staying here now, but it was still taking him a while to get used to him actually _being_ here. 

Not that he particularly wanted getting used to that. 

He imagined it a similar situation for Spike. The vampire seemed to finally tire of their awkward staring contest and graciously excused himself. 

"I'll--uhm--I'm done 'ere, so I'll leave you to it. "

He pulled out of the fridge, taking his half-empty mug with him, and made a hasty exit to the spare 'room' his bed and junk currently resided in. Xander grabbed the fridge handle as it shut, but something made him glance back over to the vamp's retreating form. 

"Spike. "

Oh, God, what was that for? Xander winced at himself. The vampire turned back around, took a step or two forward, cautiously. 

"Yeah? "

Xander blinked, unable to really work out what had possessed him to call him back. But he couldn't just stand there, he had to say something now. Unfortunately the only thing in his mind at the moment wasn't really something he wanted to say, but the more he searched the more he kept coming back around to it, before he finally just decided, the Hell with it. 

"What was it like? "

The vampire's posture changed immediately at the question. Recognition was obvious in his eyes, but Spike asked anyway. 

"What was what like? "

Xander allowed a pause. He was still gripping the fridge door, and Spike was still halfway across the darkened room, so he didn't feel too stupid anymore asking him. He forced the words out. 

"Getting a soul. "

Spike blinked his glassy blue eyes, his expression looking quite passive and calm. Of course, that could have meant anything. He let the question roll around in his head a bit before replying. 

"It hurt. "

Xander nodded slightly, knowing it was as honest an answer as he could give. There were a thousand different things he could have asked him now. He wasn't sure how to choose. So he just waited for one to strike him. 

"Do you think it . . . does it really . . . "

"Change anything? "

He exhaled. Nodded. The demon seemed to give that honest consideration. 

"It complicates things. "

Xander thought about that a moment, and then voiced his thoughts before he could question himself. 

"Well I won't argue there. But isn't that just a clever way of avoiding the question? "

Spike actually chuckled at that. 

"All right. More clear then. I think it gives the possibility for change. "

Yes, much more clear. Loosing much of his initial reluctance, since they were in this conversation by now already, Xander pushed on. 

"For the better or worse? "

Spike held up a hand, saying in a softly amused tone, 

"Ah, and that, my boy, is all in the eye of the beholder. "

Xander frowned just the slightest, because he didn't have a good counter-argument for that at the moment. Well, it was late. Blame it on Godzilla melting his brain half the night. 

"Maybe, " he finally agreed to that much. Spike nodded with encouragement. 

"There's still time to see how it'll all play out. "

Xander shivered, probably because standing on the cold linoleum floor in his boxers was finally registering in his brain as not being the warmest thing in the world to do. The vampire lifted his mug to Xander. 

"Cheers, " he offered, smiling slightly, taking a sip and turning to disappear into the small room. When the door cluncked shut, Xander just gazed at the closet-door for a while, as if staring off into space. Then he tried to shake his head again to clear it. The refrigerator door opened, light spilling out onto the floor again, as he gazed absent-mindedly into it. 

Try as he might, Xander Harris knew he wouldn't be sleeping anymore that night. 


End file.
